Building management

ABSTRACT

A building events status network for monitoring building events such as the reporting of equipment failure and visits by third parties to a plurality of buildings replaces the traditional paper logs by providing at least one site terminal with a unique address at each building to be monitored. The terminals are connected at least to a remote web server at which a database is maintained of entry records such as fault logs, times of individuals using the site terminals to report a fault or record their access to a building in the network and status information concerning the nature and outcome of the event concerning the buildings. Preferably the internet is used as the network infrastructure and each terminal is provided with browser software that permits the user to access only the remote web server.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to building management.

Modern commercial buildings contain a wide variety of machinery such aslifts, heating systems, lighting systems, air-conditioning systems andwindow cleaning systems etc. Typically, facilities managers within thesebuildings have dealt with equipment failures by logging a telephone callwith a maintenance contracting company that responds by sending anindividual to the building to diagnose and repair the fault.

In this specification we refer to the term “site events” to describe anyevent relating to the status of a building, its visitors or itsequipment including without limitation the fact of a breakdown, themaking of a fault report or repair request, the visit of an engineer ona planned maintenance visit or in response to a site request or thereturn to service of faulty equipment. Good building management requiresthe monitoring of these site events.

One type of site event—the tracking of visitors to buildings has, in thepast, generally been by utilising log books and security sign-in formsetc to verify attendance at a building by parties such as maintenancecontractors, insurance surveyors, consultants and others. More recentlysecurity systems have become fully computerised and building managersetc can make use of data about employees and others' entries and exitsto a given building although without easily logging the purpose of suchvisits. The analysis of records of visits, time on site etc has for thatreason been typically a painstakingly slow, inefficient and expensiveanalysis of manual records or, if computerised, suffering from aninability to link up multiple sites, buildings and types of visitorsetc.

Therefore, systems do not exist to securely record information relatingto events that occur in a building such as reporting equipment faultsand status changes relating thereto, for example, whether a maintenancecontractor has been called, their response time to arrive on site, timespent on site and the outcome of their visit etc. This creates an addedlevel of complexity for data collection and analysis.

PRIOR ART

WO98/53430 A1 (Fox) describes a computer-based system to solve thetechnical problem of tracking and reporting attendance of individuals atcontinuing education activities. The system uses an identificationdevice such as a magnetic card that has been provided to an individualprior to their attendance of an event. An identification card is read byan electronic card reader situated at the location of the educationalactivity. On entering the site of the educational activity, data fromthe identification card is electronically recognized by the card readerand stored. After all of the attendees have been identified, data storedin the card reader is transferred to a central computer. Informationconcerning the attendance of individuals at certain educational eventscan then be analysed and sorted to generate attendance reports etc.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,258 A (Dorfman) describes a system to solve atechnical problem of monitoring the tour that a security guard mustundertake in each building of a plurality of building sites. This patentteaches the use of a system that comprises of a system control centerthat has two-way communication via a telephone network with each of alarge number of building sites. Within each building, a building siteunit has a two-way communication by broadcast with a large number oftour station units. A guard with a guard identification card checks inthrough a card reader at each tour station unit. A unique tour stationunit identification number is associated with the guard identificationnumber and transmitted to the building site unit where it is associatedwith the time and date before being transmitted to the system controlcenter. This system provides that a large number of sites and a largenumber of tour station units can all be monitored on a close to realtime basis.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM

Building management companies face an increasing burden in managing themaintenance of building equipment since modern buildings use ever moresophisticated equipment and machinery. The problem is to monitor andmanage these site events for any number of buildings efficiently. Thisproblem has not been addressed by the prior art discussed above. Thesystem proposed by Fox does not allow for real-time data transfer. Thesystems proposed by both Fox and Dorfman relate to specific unrelatedproblems.

SOLUTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system for monitoring site events at aplurality of buildings, comprising a database accessible via theinternet; a plurality of uniquely identified site terminals adapted toaccess the database by means of web browser software, each terminalhaving means for enabling a user with access rights to view and enterdata on line into the database; at least one site terminal beingphysically secured at each said building such that the database providescurrent status information including entry records and times andassociated information relating to site events for each building.

The invention is advantageous because the information held centrally onthe database can be selectively accessed by owners, managers and tenantsetc. of the buildings as well as contractors etc. and they can thus bemade aware of the status of any building, its site events and site eventhistory. Furthermore a management company and a building occupier haveaccess to this information so that they are able to analyse theperformance and reliability of building equipment and the contractorsretained to carry out maintenance of that equipment.

The substance of a preferred embodiment of this invention is that byusing a purpose-built stand-alone, robust, web browser enabled “siteterminal” located within a building or building complex, with a uniqueinternet address, a central database accessible via the internet can beupdated in “real time” with details such as the reporting of an instanceof building equipment failure, requesting repair of an item ofequipment, recording the attendance of a maintenance contractor at thesite, the time at which they leave the site and the outcome of theirvisit. The invention would also particularly be used to track andmonitor visits by contractors, consultants, surveyors and others therebyenabling the recording of all visits and their purpose, outcome etc. Theterm “real time” is used to mean that changes made to the informationheld on the central database via a site terminal is instantaneous ornear instantaneous either within the parameters of normal computer datatransfer over the internet or within the parameters of normal computerdata transfer using internet technology.

Visitors are given pre-assigned usernames, passwords etc. in order toutilise the web browser on the site terminal and interact with thedatabase on a controlled and secure basis.

Generally speaking the geographical location of a computer with a “webbrowser” on a network or one connected to the internet is not a relevantfactor in its use and operation. The inventive step attributed to thisnew invention is firstly that it utilises a unique pre-loaded internetaddress, together with the fact that the purpose-built “site terminal”is securely fixed to a wall or part of the building fabric, to securelyabstract, for example, the real-time event of a certain category of ornamed visitor arriving at or departing from the building and thepurpose(s) and/or outcome(s) of the visit. It may also be used, forexample, to report a “site request” e.g. a repair required to a piece ofequipment or the failure of a piece of equipment etc. and record iton-line to the central database.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

A purpose-built web browser enabled device, referred to as a “siteterminal”, located at a geographically remote building or site (andgranted a unique internet address) is used to update and confirm,securely and unambiguously, the time and date of attendance of a visitor(assigned in advance a username, password etc.) to the building or sitein question on a central database accessible via the internet in “realtime”. That “site terminal” is securely attached to the building fabric.

The web browser is designed to only allow interaction with a custom menu(dependent upon the type of visitor) held on a remote web server with acentral database to confirm and record details of the event, the natureand purpose of the event e.g. a “site request” made to a companycontracted, in some form, to be carrying out maintenance, inspection,building or surveying services etc. and/or the outcome of the visit e.g.a request has been logged and a contactor arrives after a certain numberof hours etc. These details are transferred directly to the database in“real time” using the web browser facility.

In addition to tracking and recording details of site requests and theattendance of a diverse range of visitors, the database can be used byindividuals in a building to record and monitor the status of siterequests, the date/time of arrival and date/time of leaving and anyoutcome of visits by third parties. The central database can providestatus information regarding any designated item of equipment, forexample, or the response time of the attendance of a maintenancecontractor to repair a fault or the time spent on site or outcome of avisit and whether any further work is needed after the visit etc.

The building owners, managers and/or any other authorised party may alsobe given access to the remote web server and database via a suitable webbrowser together with appropriate username and password and can see in“real time” whether committed and pre-arranged or contracted visits havebeen made, the time spent on site by the visitor etc. as well as thenumber and frequency of unplanned or emergency visits, call backs, siterequests, breakdown attendances etc. indeed any facet or aspect of thevisits that have taken place at the site and been recorded.

The use of a web browser in a similar fashion as described above byOwners, Tenants, Managing Agents, Contractors etc. enables them, via acustom menu, to report to the central database building defects,deficiencies or complaints to be actioned by contractors or othersnormally visiting the building under contract or by agreement with thebuilding's owner or management. In addition, for example, thecontractors' organisation can also set estimated times of arrivalremotely for their attendance to the site and monitor the response timeof contractors staff etc. to actually attend the sites and to clearreported faults, defects, deficiencies etc. using the site terminalfacility.

This invention concerns a web browser based “real time” building visitortracking system using a robust PC based “site terminal” with a uniqueinternet address, which terminal is securely and permanently attached tothe building fabric of the unique site concerned.

The use of a combination of usernames and passwords etc. delegated tothe visitor in advance, enables a database on a remote web server torecord securely and unambiguously the time of an event, for example, thelogging of a site request, arrival of an individual, or departure of anindividual from the building of all categories of events and thegathering of sundry details from the events concerning the status,purpose and outcome of the event. The design of the web browser on the“site terminal” is modified in order that any user using the siteterminal is only allowed to interact with the remote web server databasein a controlled manner and access to any other web site other than theremote web server database is precluded.

The combination of the web browser “site terminals” with their uniqueinternet addresses located at each building being monitored and thegeographically remote central database permanently connected to theinternet allows building owners and managers to track and be updated inreal time with confirmation of all the various types of events and thepurpose of these events including but not limited to contractedmaintenance services and/or statutory inspections etc. Confirmation ofsite events are thus achieved in a totally automated manner withoutrecourse to paper based logbooks, log cards or attendance registers andthe manual processing of data from them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

In order that the invention may be well understood an embodiment thereofwill now be described, by way of example only, with reference to theaccompanying diagrammatic drawing, which shows the interaction of thesite terminal (minimum one per building) over the internet and abilityof all building staff and “visitors” to the building to interact withthe database via the site terminal.

The novelty of the system lies in the use of a web browser not justsimply to provide internet access to a database but by the time/datestamping of that interaction and the site stamping of the user'slocation via the unique internet address programmed into each “siteterminal” enabling the database to confirm securely and unambiguouslythe event, the building the event relates to and the nature of the eventgiven that the “site terminal” is securely fixed to the fabric of thebuilding in question.

The site terminals 6, 7, 8 could, if required, be a standard PC withkeyboard but in the context of this invention currently consists of a307 mm diagonal SVGA TFT colour flat screen with a resistive coatingtouch screen capability and a Linux compatible keyboard overlay (sic“Virtual Keyboard”) to allow user interaction. The PC is an Intel P333MHz processor with 64 Mb of dram, 2.1 GB of hard disk with a 56 k PCMCIAmodem. It utilises the Red Hat Linux 6.1 operating system runningNetscape 4.72 web browser facility. It is configured to boot up with itshome page being the appropriate database web site.

The concept of the site terminals 6, 7, 8 at each building and theinternet access 9 of all the different types of events via the siteterminals 6, 7, 8 to the central database 5 is depicted in the Figure.The remote interaction of other interested parties to enter and viewdata and reports etc. eg. owners 1, managing agents 2, contractors 3 andany others 4, are also shown.

In the context of this invention the central database 5 consists of aproprietary relational database supplied by the Commence Corporation“Commence 2000”. “Commence 2000” is a relational database biased towardsinformation management rather than numerical figures. It is classifiedas a RAD (rapid application development) tool. In addition customisedActive Server Programming (ASP) has been carried out to work through theCommence Application Program Interface (API) to enable data to beinterrogated and updated via standard web browsers using login usernamesand passwords to control access.

By storing the internet addresses of the site terminals 6, 7, 8 on thedatabase S the use of the site terminals 6, 7, 8 as a web browser limitsdirectly the interaction of the user on the database to the time/datestamping of that interaction and the site stamping of the user'slocation via the unique internet address programmed into each siteterminal 6, 7, 8. Thus the database 5 can record securely andunambiguously the event, the building in which the event has taken placeand the nature of the event and its outcome given that the siteterminals 6, 7, 8 are securely fixed to the fabric of the buildings inquestion. Indeed any menu driven series of questions and answers can beprovided directly by the database 5 knowing the site concerned and thetype of event being queried. In addition the site terminals 6, 7, 8 maybe used by the building staff as a means of accessing the remote webserver database 5 and interrogating the data, for example, aboutestimated time of arrival set by contractors in response to buildingequipment repair requests made using the site terminals 6, 7, 8 and toget status updates generally.

1. A computer-implemented building management system for monitoring siteevents at a plurality of buildings, wherein a site event is an eventrelating to the status of a building, a building's visitor or abuilding's equipment, the system comprising: a database accessible viathe internet; a plurality of uniquely identified site terminals thateach access the database by means of web browser software, each terminalhaving means for enabling a user with access rights to view data andenter data on line into the database; wherein each of said buildings hasphysically secured or located thereat a respective one of said siteterminals having a respective unique internet address that is used toidentify the respective building at which that site terminal isphysically secured or located, such that the database provides currentstatus information including entry records and times and associatedinformation relating to site events for each said building.
 2. A systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein the browser software permits the user toaccess only an internet site holding the database.
 3. A system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each said site terminal includes means forreporting to the database by a user an instance of building equipmentfailure.
 4. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said siteterminals includes means for sending to the database a request forrepair of an item of equipment.
 5. A system as claimed in claim 1,wherein each of said site terminals includes means for recording in thedatabase a visit of a maintenance contractor to the site.
 6. A system asclaimed in claim 5, wherein each of said site terminals includes meansfor recording in the database the time at which the maintenancecontractor leaves the site and the outcome of the visit.
 7. A system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each of said site terminals includes meansfor enabling a user to record in the database information about avisitor's entry to the building.
 8. A computer-implemented buildingmanagement system for monitoring site events at a plurality ofbuildings, wherein a site event is an event relating to the status of abuilding, a building's visitor or a building's equipment, the systemcomprising: a database accessible via the internet; a plurality ofuniquely identified site terminals that each access the database bymeans of web browser software, wherein each of said buildings hasphysically secured or located thereat a respective one of said siteterminals having a respective unique internet address, each of said siteterminals having means for enabling a user with access rights to viewdata and enter data online into the database concerning a site event atsaid respective building at which that site terminal is physicallysecured or located; wherein the unique internet address of each siteterminal is used by the database to identify the building at which thesite terminal is physically secured or located, and wherein the databaseprovides access to information relating to site events for eachbuilding.
 9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the browsersoftware permits the user to access only an internet site holding thedatabase.
 10. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein each said siteterminal includes means for reporting to the database by a user aninstance of building equipment failure.
 11. A system as claimed in claim8, wherein each of said site terminals includes means for sending to thedatabase a request for repair of an item of equipment.
 12. A system asclaimed in claim 8, wherein each of said site terminals includes meansfor recording in the database a visit of a maintenance contractor to thesite.
 13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of said siteterminals includes means for recording in the database the time at whichthe maintenance contractor leaves the site and the outcome of the visit.14. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of said site terminalsincludes means for enabling a user to record in the database informationabout a visitor's entry to the building.